Steel leg traps set for rabbits and foxes are responsible for over half of lynx killed. In the Doñana area many lynx are run over by cars. Only two per cent of the total area of Spain now provides suitable lynx breeding range and it can only be found in and around the Cota Doñana reserve in the south of Spain (where it is estimated there are 30-40 animals) and in very isolated parts of Portugal. Although the animal is protected in the reserve it is still legal to hunt it elsewhere.
The IUCN Red List considers [Lynx pardinus] as "Endangered". CITES lists the Spanish lynx as "Appendix 1".